The total amount of Iran’s petrochemical exports during March 21 – April 20 increased by 18 percent compared to the same period last year, data released by Iranian Customs Administration showed.
The total weight of petrochemical exports during the period amounted to 2.3 million tons, showing an 18-percent increase, compared to the same period last year, the data showed, reported Tasnim News Agency.
During this period, 674,000 tons of gas condensates worth $348 million were exported, the Customs Office's data showed.
In August, 2018, CEO of National Petrochemical Company (NPC) Reza Norouz-Zadeh said Iran’s petrochemical industry is “unsanctionable” and that the exports would continue on schedule, hinting at US sanctions against the country.
US President Donald Trump walked away from the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers in May and re-imposed sanctions on Iran.
Minister of Oil Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said on May 1 that the US bid to cut Iran’s oil exports to zero is a “pious hope,” warning countries using oil as a weapon about repercussions of further volatility in the global market.
“As I have already said, the US wishes to cut Iran’s oil exports to zero but this is a pious hope. Any independent market expert knows that a surplus of capacities declared by certain countries is exaggeration and overstatement,” Zanganeh said.
He said that Iran held no grudge against any countries in the region but noted that two regional states overstate their production capacities to reassure the market that Iran’s output restraint would result in no supply cuts.